


The Most Determined

by OctagonsRule



Series: Branching Paths [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Attempted Undertale Genocide Run, They've been doing this a long time now, They've gone numb, Undertale Genocide Route
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-10
Updated: 2017-07-12
Packaged: 2018-09-23 05:20:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9642386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OctagonsRule/pseuds/OctagonsRule
Summary: When it all comes down to the Human and a Skeleton, standing in the Judgement Hall, DETERMINATION finds a way to prevail against the odds. . .The question is: What side has it taken?





	1. Just the Motions

It was easy enough, really.

Too simple.

Far, FAR too mediocre to even waste their time with.

 

Snowdin was always too easy, always so empty. No matter how they ran, somehow, someway, the citizens ALWAYS evacuated before they could get there. At least, when they had done what they were supposed to do in the Ruins, at least.

It was too automatic now, to stop their pattern. Every foe too feeble, so weak and effortless to cut apart.

They'd have cleared over half of the place, before remembering that if they finished what they started, that Snowdin would be evacuated. . . .

But then. They never _were_ one to leave things unfinished.

And so the rest of the Ruins they would empty, and work out how to break into the houses for next time along their way through the forest.

 

Sans was there, as always, to greet them.

The skeleton didn't seem as chatty anymore, and only held out his hand for the trick for as little time as possible.

Maybe he was catching on, that would be something.

Or, more likely, he was repulsed by the dust that clung to their every finger. Monsters could be odd that way, they'd come to accept.

 

Acting as though they'd never seen the stuff, they were just probably better at hiding it. Or maybe cleaning it up. After all, Woshua DID need some reason for existing, the little obsessive abomination.

But that was irrelevant either way. It was just dust. Nothing harmful about it in the slightest.

It was everyone else who made it a big deal.

 

After executing the last monster that they could in the locations before entering Snowdin, it was then that the Human took some time to think about their situation.

 

This would be the 12th time they'd gone this far consecutively with no damage, and all items to boot unused. 

This was going to be the 5th time they went through Snowdin, within those 12, and find every door locked and ever shop abandoned.

This would be well over their 20th time mowing down that incessant skeleton, and it was at that moment of recollection that a nerve snapped.

 

The Human could not STAND to be immobilized out in blinding snow and ice-fall, for them to get **preached AT** by an IDIOT and not be able to interject or shut him up by any means necessary.

HELL, EVEN WHEN **DYING** THE IDIOT COULDN'T STOP _**BLATHERING**_.

It was pathetic, and it made them feel sick ever time. Even stabbing at the skull as it rambled on in the snow amongst the dust of its own body never did them any avail at silencing that voice- that voice that would ring in their ears all throughout Waterfall, Hotland, and even the Capital.

The Human couldn't take another run of _that_.

The Human _wouldn't_ be going through all of that. Not this time.

 

At their call, a little flower popped up out of the snow. Whether they shivered from the cold, or seeing the one who had demanded their presence, the Human did not care in the slightest.

 

"You said that there was a way around Snowdin, and that can get me still to Waterfall?"

" _Y-Yu-YES! Yes, yes there i-is! I can- I can show you, I f-found it last Reset, like you as-asked! I-_ "

" _Flowey_."

 

The flower's shivering lessened, freezing in place as though they'd been covered in ice. Their eyes looked anywhere- ANYWHERE, but the Human. Anywhere but at their _eyes_.

 

". . . . Just show me the way. I won't need you next time."

 

The emotionless tone gave the flower reason to relax, if slightly. An apathetic human was by far better than an angry one.

 

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . .. . . . . .. .

 

It was a longer trek than expected, going through so many trees and paths that all looked the same. But the Human did not complain. They barely felt the cold at all, just like they barely felt anything at all, if even that.

Once freezing snow began to progress into rock, they dismissed the flower, who FLED as fast as it could back into the ground, and did not reappear.

 

The Human walked on, not caring when they had to climb rough rock sides and crawl through narrow pathways that would lead them to the usual pathway.

The scraps and cuts were nothing. There was no pain, no matter how hard the impact.

If it'd been productive towards anything, it might have even been. . .  "fun".

 

On they walked, and when reaching the fields of glowing blue flora, it was with a small smile that they ripped up any that stood before them.

By the time they reached a main pathway, they had over a handful pressed up against them, none allowed to fall.

It had been so many resets ago that they'd learned that a plucked Echo Flower could still record after being uprooted.

Creating a bouquet out of the pleas of the monsters they cut down was always the most satisfying way to disarm Undyne for just the right amount of time to strike.

 

It was with a small hum that the Human approached the place they always met Undyne.

That they carried the yellow, dusty sweater over their shoulder, almost grinning at the anticipation of seeing the dimwitted warrior put the obvious together.

Her entrance never disappointed, and as they looked up to see her posed against the formation's peak, they slipped their knife into their hand behind their back. 

 

It was time to make some sushi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been going through my head all day, as its like Snowdin outside, and I was snowed-in. (I tried)  
> I don't think i can draw well enough to make it an ask blog or comic, so fanfic it is! All feedback is appreciated, and I have to thank the creator of Sondertale. Though this is nowhere ner that continuity, re-reading their comic only helped this idea grow.  
> Please check them out, they're a great artist and their own stories are very interesting! (http://sondertale-comic.tumblr.com/post/141818178301/sondertale-prologue-part-1-welcome-to-the)


	2. Engulfing Thoughts

Hotland was as dull as its name was uncreative.

Not that the Human was one to judge- the only true irritant was the _v e n t s_.

Over and over and o V e R.

 

If Alphys ever got out of that Lab, long enough away from Mettaton and those locked doors, they'd have shoved her into the lava by now.

_If only. . ._

 

Either way, the grind was something to do. Hardly a challenge, but a way go through their thoughts as all they had to listen to their own footsteps and hissing steam.

 

They had gotten so far, and this would be the first time that they had not missed a single monster since. . . . **_that_** _time._ The run they had put out of their mind to allow themselves to focus on succeeding as they once had.

The memories were upsettingly vivid, still, and as they hit an empty hallway, lacking anything to engage them, the past became all that they could see-

 

~ _The tiles were splattered with red, with shards of bone and oh the **dust**. Being thrown about had knocked off most of what had clung onto their clothing. . . as well as killed them more times than they could count._

_Maybe that was from all the adrenaline pumping through them, the energy of DETERMINATION causing their head to feel light and ears buzz in the silence. . . That, or concussions._

_No matter WHAT it was, they had never felt more ALIVE._

_At last, they had struck that comedian down, heard the tearing of that jacket; felt the metal scrape against the bones beneath, the vibrations that jolted through the handle giving them chills._

_They stared at their knife, still dripping with the **red** that had, surprisingly, come from the skeleton. It was. . . incredible, for some reason. Enticing. _

**_They had never thought a monster could B L E E D._ **

_. . . Maybe they'd be lucky, and ASGORE would as well.  
_

 

_They began to walk forward, and as they thought about how CLOSE they WERE to the End, to getting out of the Underground, they started to laugh._

_And laugh, and **laugh**. _

_Their laughter made them nearly bend over as they stalked down the hallways, more than prepared for whatever the "King of All Monsters" had in store. That annoying skeleton they'd beheaded back in Snowdin had been useful if only in one way:_

_Letting them know that so long as they became stronger, there was NOTHING this weak-willed wimp of a ruler could do to stop their actions. If this "King" wasn't a coward, then the monster would have come to face them before they'd reduced over half his people to dust. At the very least, soon after that._

 

_They were so certain, so amused by making such progress, after the smirking Judge had impeded them for what felt like y e a r s!_

_. . . They never saw it._

_They never thought, for a moment, to see if that worthless weed had found a backbone. They didn't expect to face the thorns that spotted the vines which wound around their legs, just as they had moved to SAVE and CONTINUE onwards. . ._

**_They n e v e r knew such RAGE as the moment their hands had sLiPpEd, only to slam against_ ** **R      E      S      E      T                                                                                     ~  
**

 

The Human gasped, breaking out of the moment as coils twirled behind them.

Swinging around, they spotted 2 Pyropes, trying to sneak away in the Human's moment of distraction.

 

They felt a grin pull at their face as they narrowed in on the monsters, trapping them in a battle already won.

A little murder was always a great way to refocus themselves. . . besides. It'd be their " _Best Friend's"_ turn to see their knife soon enough.

'And then,' the Human nearly chuckled at the thought.

' _I'll get to watch him **wither away** in the Hall, one more time. . .'_

 

The smile was so wide now, they wish they had a mirror to see it.

The Human strolled throughout the rest of Hotland, with a prize up ahead.

They had a skeleton to kill, after all.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've found out the direction I'd like to take this, and I hope you all like it! Please let me know what you think, I'd love to know.


	3. Ready, Partner?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back to Home we go.

Shoes clicked against the hard stone, so similar to the purple of the Ruins, only a washed out grey instead to mark them different.

It was almost unreal, just how long it had been since they were here in the past.

Repeating the same period of time over and over again had a tendency to make any progression beyond it seem. . . unnatural, nearly.

 

The house was still there, and still, the same rooms empty, in the same layout of Toriel's. Looking so abandoned as its insides were striped of any color in their eyes, and would have been just as dull.

If. . .

If this didn't mean that _it_ was now something they could force interaction with, at last.

 

The Human walked down the hall, which the flower knew better than to pop up in. Not this time.

They stopped before the mirror, staring disinterestedly at their reflection. They waited, knowing that it _had_ to happen. Despite the rarity of mirrors down here, whenever they DID come across one-

'". . ."'

 

And there _it_ was.

Despite holding back the words, that presence- there was no doubt that the little voice they had once heard so often in their head was still there.

The Human started to smile.

 

"What's wrong? Not going to start calling everything in here **yours _?_** "

The mockery was warranted. A voice couldn't "own" anything, and this was no different.

No matter the times it had been persistent, been irritating and belligerent, there was no use with denial of the simple fact they were so convinced of:

A little voice didn't matter at all.

 

"Didn't you used to make little comments, little facts and trivia that meant _nothing_ about all these monsters?"

The Human went on, inspecting the flowers that were surprisingly fresh in a pot in this hallway, to their left. They had all the time in the world.

_They were going to **enjoy** this._

 

 

"Weren't you the one who had been so UPSET at Toriel for "replacing you" with _me_ when she tucked me in?"

They knocked over the vase, letting it crash against the hardwood floor and spill onto the carpet.

"Weren't you the one to so helpfully call that little kid "free exp"?"

They picked up the flowers, and slipped their knife from their sleeve, pressing the blade lightly at the base of the bloom to the stem.

"Weren't you the one who had WANTED to listen to Flowey?"

They effortlessly slit the heads off, and with the hand not holding the knife, crushed the pollen-center and petals into a mush between their fingers.

 

. . . The Human stood there, in front of the mirror again, wearing a smirk comfortably.

The silence was with an edge, and they had been the one that guided its point. Now it was time to get what they wanted.

 

"Now. _Say it._ "

 

Minute after minute passed, but they didn't budge, didn't grow tired or bored. Gaze perfectly content to take themselves in, as they planned to wear the little voice down to nothing with this yield.

It hadn't been helping in the slightest all these resets, even going quiet as they'd grown so proficient.

There was no way they'd let it forget its place like that whimpering pest had the last time they'd gotten this far.

They had broken that distraction. Now it was due time for this one.

 

'". . . Despite. Ever _yt hi n g_."'

The little voice sounded hollow, weak. . .

'"It's. StIlL. _Y_ _o u._ "'

_Defeated._

 

The Human beamed, quick to turn  heel and set out of the house soon after, having found again the knife they so preferred thanks to its sharpness.

As they left, the little voice was quiet, but watching, resentment leaving it morbidly curious to see what the Human would now do; unable to block out the world moving by without them anymore.

Though, if it had anyone to confide in, the little voice would hardly call the shambling mass of sins and dust they were bound to since it had awakened from slumber a, "Human" at all.


	4. Prideful Blindness

It was time. It was finally,  **finally** time. They clutched the knife in their hand, taking in the sight of the entryway before them.

The Human hadn't seen that pest around. . . not that it mattered. Nothing was going to ruin this, and the flower knew better than to think _Fleeing_ would do it any good at this point. 

_One thing at a_ _time_ , they told themselves, taking a moment to ready for the fight ahead. They hadn't fought that excuse of a comedian in an eternity, and the sensation of being skewered onto jagged bones would be one they'd have to be braced for if they were to rebound fast enough to break his turn's Dodge.

They laughed, the sound spinning in the vacant Capital as a distorted echo.

Oh it'd taken so many resets the first time, but they were stronger now.  **Better** now, even when below 20 with their L.O.V.E. They could feel it, inside, one of the few things that twinge still against the lack of feeling otherwise. Everything weak about themselves, like the monsters they had faced over and over, had been cut away.

For lack of creativity, they thought of themselves like their favorite knife, currently in their sleeve as they approached the Hall. Eyes scanning the ground for the lying spectator, satisfaction nearly bringing a cackle as the weed failed to show by the time they had reached the archway.

Back to the path, they failed to notice how the place they once had stopped to listen their little informant dig their own grave _twitched_ and jerked, a flickering of the air like static.

The Human didn't hear the discordant twists, as the disruption seemed to shift and grow, as though trying to take shape....  
No. Ignored was this possible distraction, for the killer had their eyes trained towards the sight they had etched in memory as they traveled briefly in darkness, hands shaking.

They couldn't wait to cherish the sight of that  ** _red_** once again. . .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy frig I did NOT mean to put this off, I'd written a chapter I thought was PERFECT-  
> Aaand then it didn't s a v e, and I got fairly disheartened.   
> Still, I hope this is alright, I have part of this written out way back to even February, can you believe it? Apologies if it feels disjointed, I'm more than willing to go back and fix any issues found by others.
> 
> Regardless- WAY back into Undertale rn after taking some fresh air, and I hope this is enjoyed by those of you who maybe just now find this story or have been waiting. I hope I haven't let you folks down especially and I thank you for sticking with this.


	5. A Broken Reward

**Red.**

It was what had set them down this spiraling path toward their desires, towards satisfaction, to bring about destruction to all that would appear along the way.

**RED.**

The feeling- the RUSH at seeing what had before merely crumbled or melted at their feet become so interesting. Something so n e w.

It gave them chills, even now, remembering how the color seemed to seep from the gash and darkness inside. How it colored the metal so brightly in the golden light. How the smile fell from that dimwit Comedian's face to the lowest they had ever witnessed it...

_R E D. . ._

Yes, yes, all of these things were what whirred through the Human's mind as their vision was flooded with the pigment. An outcome they had not prepared for, admittedly.

Nor for the why of its presence.

Or the _who._

 

"O-OH!"

 **Red** boots squeaked against the clean tile, yet to be broken by their body nor their knife being slammed against it. **Red** appendages- hands, they had to recall as their nerves were still recoiling- moving  as though to wave a hello, albeit with trepidation. And most jarring, perhaps, was the **RED** all over its back and front, trailing in the faint breeze.

Memories of the past hazing over the present almost tricked them into thinking the wound always dealt to its neck was acting as the gash to the other nuisance had. That this was all just a dream and they'd taken a nap after all in that bed before the confrontation.

After all, the " _King's_ " voice was by now a meaningless murmur.

 

And yet this voice. This tone that they had avoided heeding time and time again, and this time altogether- this was persistently agitating.

 

"H-HUMAN..."

 

There was nothing they could reason out to explain how such a waste of space was standing in front of them. Why it wasn't simply another pile of dust in the sno-

Snow.

_They had gone **around** Snowdin. . . _

One by one, the irregularities of their trip here struck, like the delay between the strike and the pain. How Undyne hadn't said the right empty words in the right order, or how certain monsters stood where they shouldn't have been. Staring with empty eyes and grins like the Human's as they were minced apart to dust and then nothing...

**'Why FLOWEY wasn't anywhere to be found~'**

The chill down their spine alerted them that they'd been turned BLUE, giving them focus to not listen to how that pointless little voice suddenly sounded-

 

....Amused.

 

This weak obstacle was one they'd mowed down before, and this would be no different. If anything, they had something to laugh at. What better way to get in the mood for a REAL battle than to rip apart a plaything that's more amusing than that mouthy cheater?

The flinch in its eyes as the Human let their blade drop into their hand through practice made the irritations and confusions all melt away; the world became darkened as they moved forward, intent on learning if skeletons knew how to put themselves back together again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise~!  
> Yep, turns out going off the allowed pathway has its own set of consequences never considered by the adventurer before, and it'll be revealed as to WHY it was able to occur soon.


	6. Sturdy Bones

The winds were biting, but having lived here for so long made the ice fail to sting at his bones. Resolution held him there, even as the weather took a turn for the unfavorable. The Human would have to come through here, if they were to traverse the rest of the Underground, and so here he would be, waiting.

With everyone else locked in their homes or having fled into the woods, off the paths, he was the last defense. The skeleton only hoped that his words would be enough to bring what had become a menace to his friends and home backPAP to their senses...

 

With over an hour having past, Papyrus had to admit, something felt- well, _more_ wrong than things already did. It wasn't the snow that had built up nearly to his hip without his notice that slipped a chill down his spine.

'They should, BE here by now... Unless-'

 

" _ **PAPYRUS!!!**_ "

 

"YIPE-!"

The screaming of his name against the howling of the wind, from a voice he'd rarely ever heard raised at all, jolted him from his stance, and the snow altogether. Before he fell back into it, very undignified.

"S-SANS? I'M OVER HERE- HOLD ON I'LL J-"

His brother was either remarkably impatient, or unusually antsy to teleport with an untempered flash at his feet. Lifting his scarf off his face, it was clear by that expression, it was the later. His brother's smile had never looked so strained, or his arms trembling, other than after a nightmare.

"B-Bro yo-you're.... y-you're stil _l_..."

"SANS, IT'S... OK. I'M RIGHT-"

What the sentry had not anticipated as his sibling to fall forward, onto him. Only Undyne's training in reflexes led to his catching Sans before the fragile monster could get something like a crack. Another chill struck as he found his brother completely limp and fainted. For having waited so long in silence, suddenly things seemed to be occuring at alarming speed.

Taking a deep breath, the tallest of them both lifted the smaller, and trudged with practice to the one place that would be warmest. Sans was simply lucky that it just so happened to his prime hangout when slacking, or else Papyrus might've attempted their home or the Inn.

There was something going on that he didn't know about, and he was going to need his brother as comfortable and without a place to hide away if he was going to get any answers... And yet even as he shoved his way indoors, seeing the place desolate and Grillby gone from the bar, Papyrus didn't think they'd be good ones.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Papyrus wished he'd been wrong. Oh so very wrong, unlike his usual clever intuition.

If it had been, he wouldn't have to be here, waiting. Again. It was incredible how tardy a Human could be, honestly!  
But even as he tried to make his nerves settle, his thoughts rang back to what he had learned, and his teeth (out of a bad habit he'd thought he'd beaten by now) ground for a second before he stopped it.

His boots squeaked against the tile floor- a floor he used to be so thrilled to see on the occasion sentries were called to report directly to the king. Now it only held the reflection of a face of a lonely little monster, who'd had to walk through the ruins of the land he'd always loved.

Shaking his head didn't stop the thoughts, but it helped move his sockets onto something, ANYTHING else. It might've been the quiet, but he didn't _feel_ like he should be here. If anything, Sans did, but there was no way he'd allow his brother to put himself in danger against such a foe that- if what he'd been told by his little friend had been as true as their other predictions had proven- even **ASGORE** stood not a chance against.

As much confidence as he had, Papyrus didn't think he'd be able to fight like Undyne-

_~Her armor ripped apart, her home aflame and the ground covered in a mix of water and dust that had almost made him sick-~_

There against struck that chill, and his wish for someone else to stand beside him. But as the room was hollow as the rest of the Underground had been carved out to be, he steadied himself once more.  
He didn't plan to battle- he still held with belief that he could talk the Human down. 

It was the only card left to play- after all, what had running allowed, and fighting spread but more dust to pollute the air?

Deep breaths, counting, even pacing, couldn't ease the oppressive sense that he wasn't meant to be there, that none of this should have gotten this far. Eyes darting with turns in his walked circle towards the door to the throne room only raising more and more questions as to why their king had not taken action before...

"NO, NO, THAT KIND OF THINKING WON'T UNDO WHAT'S BEEN DONE. NO ONE COULD HAVE SEEN THIS COMING- NOT _THIS._ "

Papyrus was no a monster to blame others, and only wished he could have stopped the Human back in Snowdin. Maybe then, even thought the chances seemed to run slim and slimmer still as the seconds slipped away.... they could have, perhaps, been a friend?  
It was a calming idea, at least, to picture the Human, himself and his brother, and other monsters gathered together up on the edge of the Mountainside, looking out into the sunset or rise-

Just. To see the sun, the real thing, and have those he cared about safe and free as well. That was his dream, to be certain. The guard was just a way to get them all there if he was blunt about it. The only reason he never was, really, was the hopelessness in the eyes of others when he was so sure that he could make a difference. He never wanted to be the reason his brother looked so lost again after that one night-

_And then there was that **chill**._

Without knowing why the feeling struck, he followed the impression that he should be in position, and planted his shoes at the center of the Hall. 

'This time. _This time, they'll come_.'

The only way to the King was guarded by the last member of the Royal Gard, even if almost only an honorary one, as they stared at the door when the Angel of Death from the runes passed through. Coated with dust around their whole body, trailing as movement brushed some off, only for more to lay beneath. Without wings and a halo of those Fallen, what should have been a child moved forward like a creature older than anything Papyrus had ever seen.

"HUMAN..."

And yet. He didn't feel his bones rattle with fear, or mind race with questions and panic. As his opponent stopped, feeling a world apart, taking in the fact that he was the last monster in their way, the chill that had been almost _haunting_ him came along again. Only this time, oddly enough, Papyrus felt...

He'd been lacking the word for awhile now, but seeing the Human made it click, and he took the moment of the opposition being lost in thought to launch the BLUE attack he'd been priming to use on the first turn, what with all the time he'd had to wait. As it struck, the chill was more like a breeze washing over him, for a moment he smiled.

_DETERMINED_.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter to go!


End file.
